Mechanism for supplying a thread under uniform tension



May 30, 1939.

R. s. FRANCIS v 2,160,495

MECHANIsM EON SUPPLYING A THREAD UNDER UNIFORM TENSION Filed May 12, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEYS May 30, 1939. R. s. FRANCIS MECHANISM FOR SUPPLYING A THREAD UNDER UNIFORM TENSION 2 sheets-sheet 2 Filed May l2, 1938 Patented May 30, 1939 .UNITED STATES MECHANISM FOR {PPLYING A THREAD UNDER UNIFORM TENSION Raymond S. Francis, Rumford, R. I.-, assignor, by mesne assignments, to United States Rubber Company, New York, N.

New Jersey Y., a corporation of Application May 12, 193s, serial No. 207,480

15 Claims.

"Ihis invention relates to mechanism for supplying a thread to the take-up package of a Winding machine or to other take-up means under substantially uniform tension. The mechanism of the present inventionvmaybe readily-` employed in connection lwith -various typesl of yarns, threads, strands or filaments either elastic or inelastic but for convenience these will hereafter be referred to by the term thread.

Much diiculty has been experienced heretofore in attempting to supply a ne elastic or rubber' thread to a take-up package or other form of take-up means under uniform condition of stretch and tension. This is due largely to the fact that when elastic thread is Wound on to a spool or cone, or is wound into a skein or coiled into a receptacle, the adjacent coils tend to cling one to the other and this varies the tension and stretch of the thread as it is drawn forward from the source of supply. This diiiiculty may be experienced to some extent in dealing with a non-elastic thread but is much more serious When dealing with a fine elastic thread in which a slight variation in the force required to pull the thread forward from the source of supply will produce large Variations in itsv stretch. 1

A primary feature of the present invention resides in novelmechanism for pulling 'an elastic or non-elastic thread forward from a source of supply so as to a deliver the same to a take-up package 'or other form of take-up means under substantially uniform tension and stretch.

While the mechanism of the vpresent invention may be employed for various purposes it has been designed more particularlyfor use in connection with alwinding machine where it is emp loyed to draw the thread forward from a source of supply to facilitate the delivery of the same to the take-up package under very slight tension and under substantially uniform stretch. The mechanism of the present invention is particularly well adapted for use in the formation of soft packages in which the thread is wound upon a spool, cylinder or cone under very slight tension.

There has recently appeared on the market a Winding machine attachment or traverse mechanism adapted to wind thread to form what is known as a pineapple cone in which each end of the package is wound with a steep taper so that the end coils will remain in shape in the finished package better than in the earlier constructionsl L formed than in the ordinary tubular or conical package due to the fact that this pineapple cone will retain its shape whenthe thread is wound thereupon under Very slight tension.

Heretofore when elastic thread was supplied upon a spool, tube or cone it was commonly wound under considerable tension, due in part to the l fact that no practical Way was known for supplying the elastic thread to the winding mechanism under very slight and substantially uniform tension, and due also in `part to the fact that a firm wind was required in most packages to cause the windings to remain in place at the ends of the package.

It is found that by employing the mechanism of the present invention a fine elastic thread can be delivered to the take-up package under very -slight tension. or-'e1ongation, and that if it is wound into the shape of the so-called pineapple cone under this low tension a good practical package will be formed which will maintain its shape.

'Ihe mechanism of the present invention for supplying a thread having a highly uniform tension and stretch consists of a snubbing drum which may be tapered and winch has a smooth polished surface about which the thread is looped preferably in not appreciably moreor less than onecompletev circle, and adjacent this drum there is preferably provided a grooved cooperating booster pulley about which the .thread passes part way around to beguided thereby towards ,the snubbing drum. The drum and pulley are driven at a surface speed greatly in excess of the take-up speed of the thread, the arrangement being such that the speed atwhich the thread is pulled forward by the combined action of the pulley and drum is controlled by the tension of the thread drawn forward from the source of supply.

A highly important feature of the construction r just described is' that should the thread break adjacent either the drum or pulley it is 'not likely to wind up upon either to form an objectionable accumulation of thread thereupon. 'Ihis is due 45 to the fact that since the thread passes only part Way around the grooved pulley and only once around the snubbing drum, the broken end is not likely to cling to either to be Wound thereupon into an objectionable accumulating mass.

A further feature of the present invention resides in the means for driving the drum and pulley of each unit of a multiple spindle winding machine atv high speed, and for facilitating the movement of the drum and pulley of any one lcleaned, repaired or adjusted independently of the other operating units.

The above and other features of the invention and novel combination of parts will be more fully understood from the -following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings which illustrate one good practical form of the invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a commercial form of winding machine equipped with the mechanism of the Apresent invention.

Fig. 2'is a front elevation of the machine of Fig. 1, and 1 Fig. 3 on an enlarged scale is a side elevation of the above mentioned drum and pulley and supporting means therefor.

As above stated the mechanismof the present invention may be employed in connection with various types of winding machines and other forms of machines employing thread take-up mechanism but dueto its ability to deliver a thread from its source of supply to any desired point under almost zero tensionLit is particularly well adapted for use in winding fine elastic yarns and bare rubber threads into a package under substantially uniform tension and stretch.

The winding machine illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings is or may be of well known commercial construction and consists of a frame or casingll) adapted to house a considerable portion of the mechanism and to support the winding head I I at the desired heights from the oor.

`'I'his winding head rotatably supports the winding spindle I2 on which is mounted the package supporting cone I3 having wound thereupon the thread package I4 which is shown as having the shape of the pineapple cone" above mentioned.

The winding spindle I2 is provided nearits rear end with the pulley I5 which is driven by a belt I6. This beltpasses through a guide I1 and is driven by the lower pulley I8 mounted upon the power shaft I9. 'Ihis power shaft may be driven from an electric motor `having the pulley 2I and belt 22 which drives the larger pulley 23 secured to the shaft I9. The winding spindle I2 is shown as provided with a second pulley 24 which serves to drive the lower pulley 25 by means of the belt 26. This lower pulley through suitable mechanism rotates a shaft 21 within the head II which shaft has mounted thereupon the traversing cam 28 adapted to reciprocate the traversing rod 29. Y

The mechanism for winding the package I4 to the desired shape is mounted within the housing 3|) having the downwardly extending arm 3| which is pivotally supported for rocking vmovements about the axis of the shaft 21. The arrangement is vsuch that a roller 32 rotatably supported by the housing 30 rests upon the periphery of the package I4- so that as .the package increases in size the housing 30 will swing outwardly about its pivot 21. 'I'he rotation of the roller 32 against the package serves to smooth down the coils of the package to improve its shape, and it also serves to facilitate the delivery of the thread T downwardly about the underside of the package as this package rotatesin the direction of the arrow shown in Fig.- 2. As the thread T passes upwardly from the mechanism to be described to the winding position it passes about the guide wire 33 and then through a guide eye or notch in the traverse 34. The desired reciprocatory movement is imparted to the traverse 34 by mechanism not shown but mounted within the housing 30 and operated by the red 23.

The head II is shown as pivotly mounted at 35 upon the upper end of the casing I0 for rocking movement. The arrangement is suchV that when it is desired to. stop the rotation of the winding spindle I2 this is done by manually rocking the hand lever 36 downwardly about its pivotal support 31 to therebytilt the'head I I so as to elevate the cone supporting end of the shaft I2 and lower the pulley I5 sufficiently to slack of! the driving belt I6 to cause it to stop driving this spindle. The head II is normally held in the horizontal operating position in which it is shown by a latch 38. l

I'he mechanism so far described is or may be standard construction in a cone winding machine.

The mechanism of the present invention for delivering a thread T from a. source of supply to the cone I4 under uniform stretch and very slight tension will now be described.

The thread T may be delivered to the winding machine from any suitable sourceof supply, such as a skein, spool or receptacle, but is shown as drawn forward from a swift 39 having the central shaft 40 which is rotatably supported by the notched arms-4I.

In the construction shown the thread T passes downwardly from the supply skein about a booster pulley 42 having a V groove about its periphery to guide the thread. In the construction shown the thread'T after passing approximately half way around the grooved booster pulley 42 passes upwardly to the snubbing drum 43 about which it is wound in one complete turn, whereupon the thread passes upwardly over the guide Wire 33 above mentioned and through the traverse 34 to the conical package I4.

The pulley 42 and drum 43 are preferably supported a short distance apart as shown and the drum 43 is preferably tapered as shown to facilitate the spacing of the overlapping portion of the coil of thread about this drum. As the thread passes upwardly from the guide pulley 42 it preferably passes between the jaws 44 of any suitable or standard type of thread slub-catcher, and as it approaches the drum 43 itis preferably directed about the larger portion of this tapered drum by the guide nger 45. By thus delivering the thread T to the larger portion of the tapered drum 43 it is free to work down the taper somewhat as it passes'around the drum. This serves to. space apart the leading and trailing portion of the thread looped about the drum to keep them from touching as will be apparent from Fig. 2 of the drawings.

The thread engaging portions of the pulley 42 and drum 43 should be smooth and highly polished and the pulley and drum should be driven at a surface speed greatly in excess of the take-up speed at which the thread is Wound upon the cone package I4. This surface speed may be 10 or 20 times as fast as the travel of the thread. Various means may be employed for rotating thel pulley and drum and in the construction shown means are illustrated whereby their rotation may be started and stopped independently of the operation of the other part of the winding machine, but this independent control of the rota tion of the pulley 42 and drum 43 is not an essential feature of the invention.

In the particular construction shown the pulley 42 and drum 43 are rotatably supported by a bracket 46 having the oppositely extending arms l5 rocking movements upon the pivot pin 41. In

the downwardly extending arm 48 of the bracket 46 is rotatably mounted a shaft 49 upon one end l of which is rigidly secured the pulley 42 and upon the other end of this shaft is rigidly secured a driving disc 50. Journaled in the upwardly extending arm I of the'bracket 46 is the rotating shaft 52 having rigidly secured to one end thereof the drum 43 and to the opposite end of this shaft is rigidly secured a driving disc 53. These discs 50 and 53 are supported to engage the periphery of a driving disc 54 rigidly secured to an operating shaft 55 extending lengthwise of the winding machine and driven from the shaft I9 by the crossed belt 56. The direction of rotation of the driving disc 54 is indicated by an arrow in Fig. l and the driven discs 50 and 53 are preferably rubber faced to increase their frictional engagement with the disc 54. The bracket 46 is supported for a slight rocking movement upon vthe supporting pin 41 so that both driven discs will engage the periphery of the disc 54 with substantially the same amount of pressure.

In order that the discs 50 and 53 may be moved into and out of engagement with the driving disc 54 to start and stop the rotation of the pulley 42 and drum 43 to thereby facilitate their manual cleaning and adjustment and also if desired facilitate the placing of the thread T about this pulley and drum, the bracket 46 has its supporting pin,41 mounted upon a swinging housing 51. This housing is constructed to partially enclose the discs 50 and 53 and the lower portion of this housing is pivotly secured by means of a pin-58 to a yoke bracket 59 which is bolted or otherwise rigidly secured to an angle iron 60 extending lengthwise of the winding machine. The arrangement issuch that when it is desired to stop the rotation of the booster pulley and drum it is merely necessary to grasp the hook 6I at the upper end of the housing 5.1 and manually swing this housing outwardly from its full line position of Fig. 1 to its dotted line position. The housing 51 is continuously urged towards the driving disc 54 by the spring 62, one end of which is connected to this housing and the other end is connected to a fixed pin 63. When `this housing is swung to its dotted line position of Fig. 1 it win' be heid in this position by a iatch' 64 pivotly secured at 65 to the yoke bracket and having a lip 66 adapted to engage under a botf tom wall of the housing 51. A spring 68 urges this latch to its operating position. When it is desired to release the housing 51 to thereby eng'age its discs with the driving disc54 the operator merely depresses the latch 64 with her foot to release the housing.

It is desired to point out that the winding machine disclosed in the drawings has been illustrated as provided with only one winding unit,

but it will be understood that -this machine maybe provided with a large number of similar units the winding machine illustrated will now be described. Assuming that the machine is -threaded wardly from the drum 43.

up as shown in the drawings, then as soon as power is applied to theoperating parts the rotation of the winding spindle I 2 to wind the thread upon the package I4 will exert an upward pull upon the portion of the thread T extending up- This will serve to tighten the thread around this drum with a snubbing action to thereby cause this drum to pull the thread T forward from the source of supply 39 and tighten it around the pulley 42. The rapidly rotating booster pulley 42 will assist in pulling this thread forward from the source of supply and will guide it toward the drum 43. This' pull upon ththread will start the swift 39 rotating and and as soon as the swift is rotating fast enough to relieve the tension upon the downwardly extending thread T, the frictional engagement of the thread with the pulley and drum will be decreased to thereby decrease their pull upon this, thread. In this manner the speed at which the 'thread is pulled forward by the pulley and drum is accurately controlled by the tension of the thread,.with the result that this thread is delivered to the traverse `34 under substantially uniform stretch and under very slight tension even when the thread T constitutes an elastic yarn or thread as f'lne as 100s or ner. The rapid reciprocating movement of the traverse 34 may increase the tension of this thread slightly, but even so it is possible by employing the present invention to wind the thread T upon the package I4, so that it has less than a stretch in the package even when an extremely fine elastic yarn is employed.

Due to the present construction wherein the thread T is given onlyone turn around the drum 43, the thread may Abe easily and quickly placed around this drum by hand in threading up, and may likewise be easily and quickly placed around the booster pulley 42 in threading up. Should the slub catching device 44 engage a knot, slub or defect in the yarn too large to pass between the spaced jaws 44, it will break the thread usually adjacent to the snubbing device. ,But, since the thread is wound only'once around the drum 43 the broken end will not wind up or accumulate on this drum even though the latter continues to rotate at high speed, and likewise the broken portions' of the thread engaging the booster pulley 42 will not wind up thereupon.

The apparatus -of the present invention operates in an extremely simple and satisfactory manner `to deliver a thread to take up means at a very slight and highly uniform tension, and is particularly well adapted for use in winding elastic yarn into a softpackage. Furthermore by employing the slub catching device 44 the yarn wound into the 'soft package will be free from unduly large slubs and knots.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. In an apparatus of the type described in combination, alsource of thread supply, power driven thread take-up means, and mechanism interposed between saidsorce of supply and take-up means for pulling the thread forward from the source of supply to supply it to the take-up means under substantially uniform ktension, comprising a drum about which the thread is looped in not appreciably more or less than one complete circle, a grooved booster pulley for guiding the thread toward said drum and about which the thread passes part way around in one loop only as it approaches said drum, and means for driving the drum and pulley at a surthread, whereby the tension of the advancing thread controls the speed at which it is pulled forward by the pulley anddrum.

2. In a winding machine in combination, a source of thread supply, a power driven take-up package, land mechanism interposed therebetween for pulling the thread forward from the source of supply to supply it to the takeuppack l vage under substantially uniform tension, comprising a drum about which the thread is looped in not appreciably morel or less than one complete circle, a cooperating booster pulley adjacent said drum and about which the thread' passes part way around in one loop only as it approaches said drum, and means for driving the drum and pulley at a surface speed in excess of the winding speed of said thread, whereby the tension of said thread controls the speed at which it is pulled forward by the combined action of the pulley and drum.

3. In an apparatus of the type described in combination, a source of thread supply, power driven thread take-up means, and mechanism interposedv between said source of supply and take-up means for pulling the thread forward from the source of supply to supply it to the take-up Vmeans under substantially uniform tension, comprising a drum about which the thread is looped in not appreciably more than one complete circle, a cooperating booster pulley about` which the thread passes part way around in one loop only as it approaches said drum, and means for driving the drum and pulley at a surface speed in excess of the take-up speed` of said thread, whereby the tension of the advancing thread controls the speed at which it is pulled forward by the combined action of the pulley and drum.

4. In an apparatus of the type described in combination, a source of thread supply, power driven thread take-up means, and mechanism interposed between said source of supply and take-up means for pulling the thread forward from the source of supply to supply it to the take-up means under substantially uniform tension, comprising a drum about, which the thread is looped in not appreciably more than one complete circle, a cooperating booster pulley about which the thread passes part way around inone loop only as it approaches said drum,a thread slubscatcher positioned between the' drum and pulley and adapted to break the threadv when it detects a defect, and means for driving the vses drum and pulley at a surface speed in excess of the take-up speed of said thread, whereby the tension of the advancing thread controls the speed at which it is pulled forward by theeombined action of the pulley and drum and also whereby the broken thread fails to wind u pon thedrum .or pulley.

, 5. In a winding machine in combination, a source of thread supply, a power driven take-up package, and means interposed therebetween for pulling the thread forward from the source of supply to deliver it to the take-up package under uniform tension, comprising a drum having a smooth polished surface about whichv the thread is looped in not appreciably more than one complete circle, a cooperating booster pulley having a smooth polished surface about which the thread passes part way raround in one loop only as it approaches said drum, and means for driving the drum and pulley at a surface speed greatly in excess of the winding speed of said source of supply to supply it to the take-up pack- 10 age under substantially uniform tension, comprising a snubbing drum' about which the thread is looped in not appreciablymore or 4less than one complete circle, and means for driving said drum ata surface speed greatly in .excess of 15 thewinding speed of said thread, whereby the tension of said thread controls the speed at which it is pulled forward from the source of supply by the snubbing drum.

7. In a winding machine in combination a 2b source of thread supply, a power driven take-up package, and mechanism interposed therebef tween for pulling the thread forward from the source of supply to supply it to the takeup package under substantially uniform tension, compris- '25 ing a tapered snubbing drum havinga highly polished surface about which the thread is looped in not appreciably more or less than one complete circle, a guide for directing the thread to said'drum, and-means for driving said drum at 30 a surface speed greatly in excess of the winding speed of said thread, whereby the tension of said thread controls the speed at which it is pulled forward from the source of supply by the snub- V/bing drum.

8. A winding machine for winding an elastic thread into a soft package, comprising in combination, a source of elastic thread supply, a power driven take-up package, and means interposed vtherebetween for delivering the thread to said 40 package under slight but uniform tension, comprising a drum about Vwhich the thread is looped in not appreciably more than one complete circle, a cooperating booster pulley about 'which the 'thread passes part way around in one loop only 45 as it approaches said drum, and means for driving the drum and pulley at a surface speed great-l ly in excess of the winding speed of said thread so that the tension of the thread controls the speed at which lit is pulled forward by the pulley 50 thread into a soft package, comprising -in combi- 55 nation, a source of elastic thread supply, a power driven take-up package, and means interposed therebetween for delivering the thread to said package under slight but uniform tension, comprisinga drum about which the thread is looped in not appreciably more than one complete circle, a cooperating` booster pulley about which the thread passes partv way around in one loop only .as it approaches said drum, a thread slub catcher positioned between the drum and pulley to break the thread when it detects a defect, means for driving the drum and pulley at a. surface speed in`exces's,of the winding speed of said thread so that the tension of' the thread controls the speed at which it is pulled forward by the pulley and 70 1o. In a winding machine in combination, n 7g source of thread supply, a power driven take-up package, and mechanism interposed therebetween for pulling the thread forward from the source of supply to supply it to the take-up package under substantially uniform tension, comprising a snubbing drum about which the thread is looped, a cooperating booster pulley about which the thread passes part way around in one loop only as it approaches said drum, friction driving means for the drum and pulley adapted to operate them atl a greater surface speed than the winding speed of said thread, whereby the tension of said thread controls the speed at which it is pulled forward bythe pulley and drum, and manually operable means for engaging and disengaging said friction drive.

-11. In a winding machine in combination, a source of thread supply, a power driven take-up package, and! mechanism interposed therebe- -tween for pulling the thread forward from the source of supply to supply it to the take-up package under substantially uniform tension, comprising a snubbing drum about which the thread -is looped, a cooperating booster pulley about which the thread passes part way around in one loop only as it approaches said drum, friction driving means for the drum and pulley adapted to operate them at a greater surface speed than the winding speed of said thread, whereby the tension of said thread controls the speed at which it is pulled forward by the pulley and drum, and a manually movable swinging support for said drum and pulley adapted to support them in their frictionally driven thread winding position and also in an outwardly swung threading-up position in which they are disengaged from said friction drive.

12. In a winding machine in combination, a source of thread supply, a power driven take-up package, and mechanism interposed therebetween for pulling the thread forward from the source of supply to supply it to the take-up package under 'substantially uniform tension, comprising a tapered drum about which the thread is looped in the advancing thread controls the speed at which it is pulled forward by the pulley and drum, the construction and arrangement being such that when the thread breaks it will not accumulate on the drum or pulley.

13. In a winding machine in combination, a source of thread supply, a power driven take-up package, means for pulling the thread forward from its source of-supply toward the take-up package comprising a snubbing drum and groove booster pulley about which the thread is looped, means for driving the drum and pulley at a surface speed greatly in excess of the take-up speed of said thread' whereby the tension of the advancing thread controls the speed at which it is pulledv forward by the pulley and drum, and means for supporting said drum and pulley for 'movement into and out of position to be actuated by the driving means. y

14. In a'winding machine in combination, a source of thread supply, a power driven take-up package, means for pulling the thread forward from its sourcel of supply toward the take-up package comprising asnubbing drum and grooved booster pulley about which the thread is looped, means for drivingthe drum and pulley at a surface speed greatly in excess of the take-up speed of said thread whereby the tension of the advancing thread controls the speed at which it is pulled forward by the pulley and drum, and a swinging support for moving said drum and pulley into and out of their operative position to thereby start and stop` their rotation to facilitate the cleaning of the drum and pulley or of the placing of the thread about the same.

15. In a winding machine in combination, a source of thread supply, a power driven take-up package, mechanism interposed between said source of supply and take-up means for pulling the thread toward the latter comprising a drum and pulley about which the thread is looped, a driving disk for the pulley and a second driving disk for the drum, a power driven disk, means for supporting the drum and pulley so that said driving and driven disks .may be engaged and disengaged to drive the drum and pulley at a-surface speed greatly in excess of the take-up speed of 

